Hand and foot prints are among the first images that humans are known to have made, and are an expression of our primordial impulse to leave a mark. Parents will often cast an impression of their child's hand or foot print, so as to have a permanent memento from the child's younger days. Similarly, pet owners often wish to have a paw print to serve as a permanent reminder of their loyal companions. Creating castings of other articles or objects, including pieces of art, is also a popular artistic pursuit.
In a conventional form, a casting kit provides a negative impression in a casting compound. A typical casting kit for domestic use provides a container for containing a casting compound which is typically a solidifying substance, for example plaster. The plaster is poured into the container in liquid form, the object such as a child's hand, pet's paw etc. is depressed into the plaster, creating a negative impression of the object, and allowed to set. The object is then removed, and a permanent negative impression of the object remains in the plaster.
It is also possible to cast a positive impression, to provide a more realistic reproduction of the object, by adding a further step. In a positive casting process a deformable impression medium, for example sand, is placed in a container, and the object to be cast is used to make a temporary depression in the impression medium and then removed. A solidifying casting compound such as plaster is then poured into the temporary negative impression, and a positive casting is the finished product. The casting can then be framed, for ease of display.
However, positive casting is a multi-step process, and the granular nature of the impression medium makes it a fairly messy process. It would accordingly be advantageous to provide a casting kit that reduces or simplifies the steps involved in casting a positive impression, and makes it easier to perform the process with less mess. It would further be advantageous to provide a casting process that creates the casting and simultaneously frames the casting.